


A Day in The Life - Chapter Two: Jean-Claude's POV

by Alisanne



Series: A Day in The Life [2]
Category: Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter - Laurell K. Hamilton
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-31
Updated: 2013-01-31
Packaged: 2017-11-27 15:28:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/663582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alisanne/pseuds/Alisanne





	A Day in The Life - Chapter Two: Jean-Claude's POV

Jean-Claude’s POV

~

I could not look at her any longer, so I went to Richard’s side as if to lend him aid. That was, after all a human response, non? One that Anita Blake, although she is far from human, might understand.

Richard seemed to be shaking with the need to laugh. I quickly bent down and whispered to him to remember that we still had an audience. The witches’ plan needed time to work, after all. Karma does not catch up with one instantaneously.

Anita made a disgusted noise and, after her silly remark about Jason, stormed out of the room, that simpleton of a kitty with her. Had I been human I would have simply shook my head at her naiveté. She truly believed that everything was now back to the way it was before? I wished I could be there to see what she would do the next time she tried to draw on her power. I smiled at the thought. I had gotten what I wanted... non, _we_ had gotten what we wanted, and it had taken some doing. But, I was again my own master, and by the time that simple necromancer realized that “her” power was no longer hers, it would be too late.

Sensing movement behind me, I turned to see Richard remarkably recovered, now standing and smiling. He seemed relieved that she was gone, as was I.

“She bought it!” he crowed.

Mortals can be so... childish.

“Oui, I believe that she did, mon ami.”

“Heh. So now we just wait for her to finally put it all together,” he continued with satisfaction.

I shrugged, yes, I will admit it, complacent in my ability to manipulate that little necromancer into any situation that I wanted her in, now that her power was mine... _ours_ , I amended. We shared it now, the wolf and I, along with our own innate powers.

I suspect that they think that I see the world as they do, but I do not. I did get some small satisfaction from this thing that we did, but no real joy. Joy is for the living and the newly dead. I am the old dead. I cannot pretend to “wake up” anymore. I simply... am. Ma Petite, non, I mean _Anita_ , says that she is not sure if what I have is a soul. I find I cannot bring myself to care in the slightest. I spent many years worrying about my soul in _life_ , I refuse to do the same in my “undeath”. So, I just “am”. And now I am Master of Saint Louis in truth.

When my previous master died, I had thought myself free, but I was truly not. I went from being Nicholaus’ creature to Anita’s creature, an intolerable situation. But now that was over. I cannot feel her, and the sensation is heady. And the extra power! Mon Dieu, so this is what it feels like to be unbound? So many years of being someone else’s creature, and now I have broken the last of those bonds. Belle has no hold, Anita has no hold. I am my own!

When Richard had first approached me with this scheme, I had thought him mad. I wonder now how much of that came from Anita’s thoughts? She has a peculiar blind spot when it comes to Richard. I sense her attraction to him, but I can sense his distaste toward her and I wonder that she cannot sense it herself.

That evening had been like any other. I was at the Circus when Richard came to see me. He often just “stopped by”. He appreciates that we are bonded and must frequently communicate.

He had looked nervous that evening.

“May I offer you some refreshment, Richard?” I had asked politely. I am always polite, even when I am ripping out a throat. It is the way of the vampire, after all.

He shook his head. “I’m here to ask a big favor, Jean-Claude,” he had said.

I remember his agitation. It had washed over me in waves. Do they not know how much they broadcast distress? I set out to put him at ease. I am always interested in human ideas, after all. “Ask away, mon ami.”

He had jumped up and started pacing nervously, finally whirling and shouting, “I want to be rid of Anita!”

I had heard this before, it was nothing new. It tends to happen about every three months, and he and I had even debated many methods that might be employed. Unfortunately, although I had been convinced that we could _survive_ a separation of the marks, I had not come up with any way to do it. I had been researching, and had even sent to several colleagues to see if they could assist us in this.

“Mon ami,” I remember replying, “we have had this discussion before. I have not yet found a viable method.”

Richard had smiled and I remembered being intrigued.

He told me the plan and it was surprisingly brilliant in its simplicity. Mortals can surprise you sometimes.

Back in the present, I watched at my co-conspirator calmly. “I must say that I am glad that you have been talking to Marianne all this time,” I said. “The observation that Anita had already essentially cut herself off from us and from Nature, the real source of her power, was a good one. Did you not sense tonight that she had already done most of the work? Now she even thinks that it was mostly her idea.”

Richard grinned. “Yeah, I just can’t wait till she realizes what has really happened. Wonder if Marianne will tell her that the entire coven helped to bring this about?”

“I suspect that she will tell the truth if asked, mon ami,” I replied. I did not say how unlikely it was that Anita would ask. We both know how she hates asking for help. That was part of what made the plan almost foolproof.

My part in the plan had been relatively simple. I had unleashed the ardeur on her to the point that it had overwhelmed her. This had the effect of keeping her quite preoccupied with her band of pathetic cats, while Richard and I put everything into place.

I had yearned to be free of the albatross that is Anita Blake, and now I was. I am not certain how I have managed to keep _that_ thought from her, but I do know that the heavy shielding had been taking its toll on me. As powerful as she is, no, _was_ , the quirks in her personality made dealing with her almost impossible, and I suspect that if I had not been in mortal danger I would never have marked her that fateful night. But that is neither here nor there. It was done and now it is undone. We had a reprieve until she realized exactly _what_ we had done.

“What shall you do now, Richard?” I asked.

He blushed, and I was surprised for the first time in many, many months. I leaned forward, intrigued at what had caused such a reaction.

“Well,” he said, “I’ve been sort of seeing Marianne’s niece, Tara. She... she’s a great girl and despite being in Tennessee and new to Verne’s pack, she’s actually thinking of moving again, coming up here so we can make a go of it. The weekend visits are starting to get old....”

He spoke about his plans as I dreamed about my own. No more humans, no more curbing my own instincts for the sake of a woman, a child really, who more often than not created disaster in her wake. Now I can pursue my own desires. Asher will be so pleased.

~

Anita

I took Jason home with us, of course. I couldn’t just let him stay there after all. Not with Richard there, and him being so irrational.

Micah drove home because he thought that I would want to comfort Jason in the back of the car. I was a bit put out by that, but I allowed it. He’s usually so good at anticipating me that one little error now and again I can let go. But I really wanted to think about what had just happened, maybe see if I felt any different. My power was changed, I knew that, but it’s hard to quan... quanti... measure sometimes.

“We’re here, Anita,” Micah announced, as if I were blind and I couldn’t see that! But again, I managed to bite my tongue and not say anything. Bully for me! I must be getting mellow as I get older.

Nate took Jason to his room, while Micah and I sat in the living room to see if we could tell any difference in my powers.

Suddenly, Micah started taking off his clothes. “What the fuck are you doing?” I snarled. The look on his face was almost comical, at least it would have been if I had any sense of humor.

“It’s umm, it’s time for your midnight feeding,” he said hesitantly.

“Oh.”

Damn, I had forgotten. Then it occurred to me. _The ardeur was gone!_ Since the marks with the vampire were gone, I was now free of it.

“I don’t need to feed,” I snapped. Why was everyone so irritating tonight?

Micah backed off, of course, like he usually did. That is part of his charm after all. Or it used to be. Right now he’s a lot less charming. And really, this tendency of his to wear my clothes is getting annoying. Why had I never noticed that he’s really girly looking?

“I’m tired,” I said. “I’m going to bed.”

Micah made a move to follow me. “Alone!” I snarled, and stalked towards the bedroom. I got there and found Nate already curled up and waiting. Shit! I just wanted to sleep and all these leopards were everywhere. What did a girl have to do to just get some sleep around here?

Walking into the hallway, I heard Micah on the phone, which is pretty weird since he almost never makes phone calls. I don’t know what made me listen in, but I did.

“Hey, baby,” he said. Baby? What the fuck was this?

“Yeah, I’m almost done here, I should be home soon. How are the kids?”

Kids? Who the hell was he talking to and what was this about? There had to be an explanation. A good one. I just couldn’t think of it right now. Too much had happened. After all, it’s not every day that you consolidate your power. I had some recovery time after the marriage of the marks too, as I recall. Yes, that made sense, I just had to give myself time to figure everything out.

As I stalked into the living room I heard him say, “What do you mean it’s been almost a year? I spoke to you yesterday! Or least it seemed like yesterday.... For some reason I had forgotten some stuff... Yeah, I’m better now. It was this thing called the ardeur... Can’t remember much about it now, but I think it’s done. I should be able to wrap this up in another day. Look for me on Friday.”

Maybe he had relatives he needed to visit? Yeah, nieces and nephews, that must be it. He couldn’t possibly have betrayed me. We have a mystical bond! Plus, God would never let that happen. Not to me. Never to me.

~  



End file.
